Bikepacking Europe

Picture high elevation plateaux, remote refugios, abundant wildlife, and kilometre upon kilometre of quiet forest roads… Welcome to Spanish Lapland, as it’s been dubbed, an area in SE Spain with a population density similar to its Finnish namesake. The 700km Montañas Vacías route offers a wonderful introduction to this little travelled area, linking the Montes Universales, Sierra de Javalambre, and Sierra de Gúdar via a dense network of doubletracks and quiet paved roads.

This laid back loop in Southwest England is a perfect late summer getaway in the Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park, home to singletrack, dirt roads galore, as well as cream tea and scones. It can be done in three to four days, making it ideal for a long weekend away from the big city.

Spanning 1,000 kilometers across Switzerland and nearly 100,000 feet of climbing, the Navad 1000 bikepacking route is steep, yet still very forgiving. Vertical miles lead to singletrack through meadows, crystal clear lakes, abbeys with courtyards, and, of course, stunning views. Here, physical challenge is paired with logistical ease. A bakery or a hot meal is never far, but along the way, you are basically alone among the pristine, natural beauty.

As the name suggests, the Purbeck Bimble isn’t a mile-crunching sufferfest. Rather, it's an exploratory ramble that uncovers almost every nook and cranny of Dorset's beguiling Isle of Purbeck. Because despite its modest proportions, this petite parcel of Dorset land is filled with many treasures, be it roller-coasting bridleways, a crumbling castle, quirky place names, spectacular ridge riding, gorgeous swimming coves, or fine local fare.

Sweet and Sauerland is a three-day bikepacking loop in the midwestern German region of Sauerland, well known for its hiking and biking. The region is crossed by two one-way hiking trails, the 230 km Sauerlandhöhenflug and the 157 km Rothaarsteig. This route combines parts of both tracks to create a loop through a remote, forested setting with many scenic viewpoints along the way.

Circling around the unique landscape of the Dolomites, in north-east Italy, the Trans-Dolomiti is one of the best ways to admire its ragged mountain peaks up close. Complete with stunning vistas, rocky roads, and some fun-riding singletrack, this route gets you up, down and around this especially beautiful mountain range.

The Ardennes Arbalète offers something for everyone: fast forest gravel, beat up singletrack, cruisey bike paths through castle-dotted valleys, quaint encounters with cheery locals, humbling reminders of the area’s poignant history, and the promise of fantastic beer around nearly every corner.

Just below the Arctic Circle, situated between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, a remote land emerges from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, dominated by huge glaciers, ashen deserts, and mighty lava structures. Here, along the fault line that crosses the island from north to south, the incessant work of fire and ice traced a route that runs through a world of immeasurable desolation and enthralling beauty, the Icelandic Highlands.

Beginning on the Italian border, the Grande Traversée L’Alpes-Provence is an incredibly varied crossing of one of France's most beautiful regions. Expect mile upon mile of flowy singletrack, curious rock formations, intriguing history, and of course, plenty of boulangeries and pâtisseries. The route takes you from high mountains, all the way down into dry pine and crooked oak forests, where it follows a raging river and crosses the surreal landscape of ‘Les Terres Noires’.

The Ardèche-Cévennes Divide crosses through rolling hills, high plateaux, beautiful chestnut forests, and picturesque towns of Monts d’Ardèche and Cévennes National Park. The route runs along the watershed’s invisible line, following part of the Grande Traversée des Monts d’Ardèche mountain bike route before connecting to Cévennes National Park and the amazing landscapes near Mont Lozère, before finally flowing down to Alès through remote and unknown Luech High Valley.

The Alta Via dei Monti Liguri is a challenging and scenic bikepacking route that crosses Liguria, a coastal region of northwestern Italy between the jagged coast of Cinque Terre and the Maritime Alps. Following historical military roads, rocky singletrack, and steep alpine paths, the AVML flows through ancient rural settlements, fairytale beech-woods, mighty fortifications, and breathtaking valleys.

The Tour des Combins begins at the Gran San Bernardo, a historically rich, windswept pass in the heart of the Pennine Alps. From there this three day trans-alpine loop alternates between lush valleys full of streams, marmots and majestic coniferous forests to more rugged and rocky mountainsides, where glaciers paint spectacular views of most impressive 4000 meter alpine peaks.

The Wine, Rhine and Romans bikepacking route passes through the wine region Ahrtal, the Eifel, the upper middle Rhine valley, and the Siebengebirge. This 3-4 day track traverses a remote and beautiful natural setting, despite the densely populated areas surrounding it. Additionally, the upper middle Rhine valley is a world cultural heritage site and features many historic sights and stops along the way.

A bike-rafting circumnavigation of Scotland’s weird, wonderful and windswept outlying islands. White sand beaches, wildflower meadows and Norse heritage make this route a challenging but unique way to explore Europe’s north-western corner.

The Bruschetta Loop is an overnighter bikepacking route in the sub-Appenninic region of central Italy along the Simbruini Mountains on the border between Abruzzo and Lazio. Doubletrack and gravel roads cross the largest beechwoods in Europe and then reach gorgeous karstic plateaus. A short ride to enjoy a mini-adventure between the valleys that have been captured in spaghetti-western films.

The 1,000 mile Bikepacking Trans Germany (BTG) runs southwest to northeast and was designed to take in the most beautiful and unknown parts of the German backcountry. The BTG follows fast rolling gravel roads with quite a few technical trails in between to explore the wild and remote parts of Germany with plenty of history along the trail if you take time for it.

A spectacular alpine route circling the massif of Mont Blanc — the roof of the Old Continent — and crossing the borders of Italy, France and Switzerland. Once considered a horrific place, inhabited by demons and dragons, turns out to be an incredible display of alpine beauty where sheer granite walls rise between impending glaciers, long gravelly moraines, meadows and enchanted valleys.

There is a trail in the northeast of the old continent that crosses a medley of floodplain taiga, quicksand, swamp, meadows, bogs, and intercepts the East-Atlantic migratory path of Arctic waterfowl. This place holds a multitude of rivers and lakes that lead to the extraordinary and isolated coasts of the Baltic Sea. Welcome to the wild heart of Estonia.